A coronavirus-themed game has been blocked on Steam in China because of its politically motivated content, the BBC reports.

In order to win Coronavirus Attack, players have to stop "selfish zombies" from escaping a country infected with the virus.

Players reported the game for using the same colour scheme as the Chinese flag, with virus-shaped animations in place of its stars.

The game has been inundated with negative reviews on Steam's store.

Players can also collect badges that include "Liberate Honk Kong" and "Taiwan is not in China".

The creator behind the game, MythZ, told news site Abacus he had developed the project as a protest against the Chinese government.

He said he was unhappy with how it had handled the pandemic.

Coronavirus Attack is not the first Steam game to be blocked in China.

Hugely popular simulation game Plague Inc. was blacklisted in March as the Covid-19 outbreak worsened.